Sunday, September 16, 2007

Christ is Life

Good advice from John Woodward

"Identification with the Lord Jesus Christ, or the abundant life, is not sinless perfection."
Charles Solomon

Slipping over the line into performance based faith.

We should watch out for stumbling blocks which could distract us from our vital focus upon Christ as our life (Rom 5:10). Beware of peer pressure. Even Christian fellowship can trigger unhealthy comparisons and competitions. For example, the apostle Peter withdrew from eating with his Gentile fellow believers when members of the Jerusalem church arrived (Gal 2:11,13). If peer pressure can cause us to view others according to the flesh, it can cause us to view ourselves apart from our identity in Christ also. Beware of legalistic teaching. If Bible teachers have a works orientation to Christian living, we are liable to shift our focus off of the dynamic of Christ living through us. Remember why Paul needed to correct the Galatian believers (Gal. 3:1-3). We also need to resist worldly values. We can revert to evaluating our lives by the world's temporal value system, instead of focusing on our glorious position in God's kingdom (Rom. 12:2,2; Col. 1:13).

The episode of Peter walking on the water to Jesus is so instructive (Matt. 14:22-33). As long as we keep looking unto Jesus as our Saviour, Lord, Sanctifier and Life-Giver, we can walk supernaturally. If we allow self to gain control, or permit our faith's focus to be distracted from Christ, then like Peter, we begin to sink. Praise God that He is there to lift us up again when we reaffirm our trust in His all sufficient strength and grace! Let's keep on track by looking unto Jesus continually (Heb. 12:1,2).

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